Over the past 6 weeks. I have been colocated at work with 4 individuals plus my new manager. Those four are, in my opinion, four of the most awesome employees of the company. Out of the four, one is a guy that is a unique individual who has stepped out of his high level finance role to join our team to change his career focus. He helps keep me focused, and knows a part of the information technology organization for which I have almost no experience. He is funny, grounded, and easily accepts that he has much to learn in this new role. Another one is a gal that has been a “change agent” for several cycles now, but has not actually been with the company as an individual contributor for all that long. She is awesome in her own right, and has helped the team so far in many ways, including directing the other four of us down the right path over and over.

This post is about the other two. J & A have also helped the team in many ways, helping to coordinate the materials for our thirteen value stream mapping exercises, and help drive the logistics around those meetings (lunch, coffee, extra chairs, room) and have helped by asking questions that no one else asks.

The one thing that these two have done is to help me personally in ways that they don’t yet understand. They have been both my friends and my little sisters at the same time. As I go through this divorce and I relocate from a family house to an apartment, they have been there day in and day out. They don’t know how much support they provide by just asking me how an appointment went, or what I thought of the apartment I saw last evening, or how my kid is doing because I left to take her to the doctor. I no longer have that wife at home asking those things, so they have become the friends that I really need right now. They have become a support system that makes coming into work pretty bearable during some tough personal times.

Tomorrow, I am heading to see an actual model of the apartment I’m probably going to rent for the next year or two. It’s a one bedroom apartment, but plenty large enough for one of my kids to visit. My daughter is looking at the place with me as a sanity check, even though my moving out will be a sad day for her as the reality of the divorce sets in.

I’m positive that J & A will ask me about it on Monday, and I will be happy to share the news, knowing that they are really interested and concerned for me. And, for that, I am truly blessed.